4 ms·

This is what happens when business strategy spans decades and not from one quarterly report to another.

throwawaybutwhy 6y ago
Agreed, a Nortel for each decade is usually sufficient from a business strategy perspective.
mlindner 6y ago
You mean this is what happens when you have a gigantic state government bag holding for you with a given mission of wiping out all competition.
- cosmodisk 6y ago
  Yes, that's exactly what I mean. The entire country sat quietly whilst the western companies poured billions upon billions into it. Fast forward 30-40 years and everyone is super surprised that once humble and kowtowing country showing a middle finger to the rest of the world and nobody can do anything about it. Huawei has been operating like this since its inception.
  - ChuckNorris89 6y ago
    You can blame that on the colonialist mentality that prevailed in the MBAs of the rich western nations where they saw China as this obedient servant that will just build our stuff and always do what we tell them to do since we have the money and the kow-how and they'll never wise up and become a threat. I worked in the NL hardware business over a decade back and that was the exact mentality management there had in regards to China and Chinese workers.
    - dirtyid 6y ago
      Pretty much. Nortel Guangzhou had bamboo ceiling on (mainland) Chinese management roles in the late 90s even foreign nationals, i.e. (mainland) Chinese Canadians. Big surprise when entire engineering teams got poached by ZTE and Huawei. Pretty consistent complaints from other industries. Emphasis on mainland because it didn't apply to Taiwan / HK / SK / Singapore expats. I think institutional inertia and seniority played a big part, but didn't sit well with people being blocked.
    - cosmodisk 6y ago
      People never learn from history. It's same when the Germans invited gastarbeiters to build the country, expecting them to just pack up and leave afterwards. As one of them later said: I spent 15 years building this country, it's my home,why would I leave?

Agreed, a Nortel for each decade is usually sufficient from a business strategy perspective.

You mean this is what happens when you have a gigantic state government bag holding for you with a given mission of wiping out all competition.

cosmodisk 6y ago
Yes, that's exactly what I mean. The entire country sat quietly whilst the western companies poured billions upon billions into it. Fast forward 30-40 years and everyone is super surprised that once humble and kowtowing country showing a middle finger to the rest of the world and nobody can do anything about it. Huawei has been operating like this since its inception.
- ChuckNorris89 6y ago
  You can blame that on the colonialist mentality that prevailed in the MBAs of the rich western nations where they saw China as this obedient servant that will just build our stuff and always do what we tell them to do since we have the money and the kow-how and they'll never wise up and become a threat. I worked in the NL hardware business over a decade back and that was the exact mentality management there had in regards to China and Chinese workers.
  - dirtyid 6y ago
    Pretty much. Nortel Guangzhou had bamboo ceiling on (mainland) Chinese management roles in the late 90s even foreign nationals, i.e. (mainland) Chinese Canadians. Big surprise when entire engineering teams got poached by ZTE and Huawei. Pretty consistent complaints from other industries. Emphasis on mainland because it didn't apply to Taiwan / HK / SK / Singapore expats. I think institutional inertia and seniority played a big part, but didn't sit well with people being blocked.
  - cosmodisk 6y ago
    People never learn from history. It's same when the Germans invited gastarbeiters to build the country, expecting them to just pack up and leave afterwards. As one of them later said: I spent 15 years building this country, it's my home,why would I leave?